- Yes
- No
Introduce:
Spoiler
In the mid-to-late 70s of the last century, the gradual easing of relations between China and Western countries also provided an opportunity for China to introduce advanced technology, so that the tank armored forces could be rapidly upgraded. The Chinese delegation has frequently visited the German Klaus Maffei company, for the world’s most advanced level of the Leopard 2 at that time, the original plan to introduce the production line but the Leopard 2 advanced behind the more expensive price, so in 1978 began to restart the development of the second generation of the tank, with the German Leopard 2 as a reference prototype, imaginary enemy against the Soviet T-72 tank. After the goal is clear, the project code name is WZ-1224, and the performance requirements are: with three defense capabilities, fire extinguishing and explosion suppression functions, night combat capabilities (infrared night vision), hot smoke screens and projectile smoke screen devices, and diving functions.
Development History:
Spoiler
In 1969, after the “Zhenbao Island Incident”, China entered a state of emergency combat readiness, and the armored forces of China and the Soviet Union were under great pressure in terms of military strength comparison. The armored forces of the Central Military Commission have successively put forward three requirements to the Fifth Machinery Department: First, the 121 medium tank, which is currently undergoing finalization tests, should be finalized as soon as possible; second, it should start developing second-generation tanks and armored vehicles; and third, the tanks in service should be equipped with complete equipment.
In 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee was held, the work of the whole country was restored and rectified, and the weapons industry began to turn on the right track, the Ministry of Ordnance reorganized the demonstration work of the second-generation tank, and in April 1978, the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense and the Ministry of the Fifth Machinery held a meeting No. 784 in Datong, Shanxi, and once again put forward the second-generation tank program and determined that the prototype was codenamed WZ1224, with a 120mm smoothbore gun installed and an engine power of 1 000 horsepower. After the meeting, a general headquarters was set up, which consisted of sub-headquarters such as chassis, engine, artillery, ammunition, and fire control, and decided to first develop a demonstrative prototype car, and through the development of the prototype vehicle, the overall layout of the whole vehicle, as well as the transmission, walking, handling, artillery, fire control and other main components of the preliminary design and test, to provide a design basis for the new tank, and accumulate experience. At the end of 1979, the test vehicle completed nearly 200 hours of testing and passed the 1,557-kilometer test run, and was originally planned to be equipped with a 120-mm high-pressure smoothbore anti-tank gun with a diameter of 48 times. The fire control system includes a ballistic computer and a three-in-one periscope scope for day/night/laser ranging, etc., and the turret of the WZ1224 prototype is welded from homogeneous steel, and a replaceable composite deck is added at the front of the turret to enhance the frontal protection capability. The prototype adopts the German MB8V331TC41 water-cooled diesel engine (1000 horsepower), the fan drive adopts a hydraulic coupling speed regulating mechanism, and the power unit adopts a longitudinal engine, which can be hoisted as a whole. The transmission part adopts a fixed shaft hydromechanical gearbox, a two-stage planetary steering mechanism, and hydraulic power operation. The action part adopts small-diameter steel load wheels, high-strength torsion shafts, friction shock absorbers, double-pin ear hooks, and track shoes that can be replaced with rubber blocks, after summer test and winter test in 1981, it is proved that the 8V331 engine of the WZ1224 test vehicle has good performance, but the 8V331 engine is a civilian engine, and the weight is too large, so it has to be changed to a military model. After passing the test assessment, it was found that the annular radiator of the cooling system consumed too much power. Although the transmission system meets the performance requirements of the whole vehicle, it is still a mechanical transmission and does not meet the envisaged requirements of the development of hydraulic integrated transmission.
From the current point of view, the WZ1224 already has the characteristics of the third generation of Western tanks, but due to the failure of the development of the automatic loader and the limited technical level at that time, the WZ1224 and its subsequent models were finally dismounted and failed to achieve mass production and installation.
Armament:
Spoiler
WZ1224 was planned to be armed with a 48x-diameter 120mm high-bore smoothbore anti-tank gun (with an automatic loader) with 17 rounds of spare ammunition and did not appear to be equipped with a machine gun
Weapon Support Systems:
Spoiler
The WZ1224 has a night combat capability (infrared night vision) fire control system, including a ballistic computer and a day/night/laser ranging three-in-one periscope sight, etc. There is a two-way stabilizer，There was a tail compartment in the rear of the tank turret, on which an automatic loader could be installed.
Protection and maneuverability:
Spoiler
Protection:
The turret of the WZ1224 prototype is welded from homogeneous steel, and the front of the turret is equipped with a replaceable composite deck for enhanced frontal protection, and the turret is a welded turret
Hull armor [mm]
F S R
280 70 55
Body material：Steel
Body Resistance:
AP HE SC
1.00 1.00 1.00
Turret armor [mm]
F S R
250 200 75
Turret Material: Welded steel plates Turret speed [deg/s]: 26.70
Turret Resistance:
AP HE SC
1.70 1.70 1.20
Maneuverability:
WZ1224 adopts German MB8V331TC41 water-cooled diesel engine (1000 horsepower), the engine auxiliary system adopts plate-fin annular water radiator, the fan drive adopts hydraulic coupling speed regulating mechanism, and the power unit adopts longitudinal engine, which can be hoisted as a whole. The transmission part adopts a fixed shaft hydromechanical gearbox, a two-stage planetary steering mechanism, and hydraulic power operation. The action part adopts small-diameter steel load wheels, high-strength torsion shafts, friction shock absorbers, double-pin ear hooks, and track shoes that can be replaced with floor rubber blocks.The power-to-weight ratio is 22，The maximum speed [km/h] is 65, and the average speed on the road is 45km/h。
Parameter:
Spoiler
Country of origin: China
Number of tank members in the group: 3
Team composition: a driver-mechanic (sitting in the front left), a commander (on the right side of the turret), and a gunner (on the left side of the turret)
Weight ：45t
Engine: MB8V331TC41 water-cooled diesel engine (1000 hp)
Power-to-weight ratio: 22
Maximum speed: 65km/h
Average speed on the road: 45km/h
Obstacles: Height: 0.9 m, Water depth: 1.2 m, Width: 2.6 m
Armor: Turret Welded Armor + Turret Additional Composite Armor Module (similar to the Leopard 2A5 Series Tank Turret Add-on Module)
Armament: 120 mm smoothbore gun × 1 (17 spare shells in the rear of the turret + 1 spare shell in the hull)
total length with the instrument ：9 meters
width ：3.3 meters
height ：3 meters
Photo:
Spoiler
Added:
Spoiler
WZ1224 has a tail compartment in the rear of the turret, it is planned to install an automatic loader, in which all 17 spare ammunition can be placed
Sources: